Features

Mountain Profile: La Meije Part II (1877–2017)

Once French climbers reached the summit of the previously unclimbed Grand Pic de la Meije in 1877, the mountain emerged as a national emblem. Yet la Meije also retained an elusive and wild identity of its own, an aura of mystery that contrasted with more developed regions of the Alps. Erin Smart chronicles the history of the mountain that managed—as the novelist Édouard Estaunié once wrote—to "live a life apart," while Paula Wright, Claude Gardien, Bruno Gardent and Pascal Tournaire share stories from its quiet slopes.

Taking Flight

When Denali guide and artist Leighan Falley gets her commercial pilot's license, her drawings from expedition notebooks expand into paintings of vast mountain landscapes as seen from high above.

The Force of the Soul: Hugues Beauzile

In the winter of 1993, media helicopters flew over the iconic Walker Spur of the Grandes Jorasses in anticipation of Catherine Destivelle's winter ascent, when another solitary figure emerged from the wall: Hugues Beauzile, a Haitian-French climber who had only recently put on crampons for the first time. Herein, James Edward Mills recalls the remarkable life and untimely death of an alpine prodigy.

Into the Blue

A grainy photograph of a half-hidden big wall leads Jérôme Sullivan on a remote journey into Greenland. Sullivan and his partners eschew a helicopter flight to Apostelens Tommelfinger in favor of a "fair-means" approach: a 170-kilometer paddle through the icy waters of the North Atlantic and Ikerasassuaq (Prince Christian Sound).

Departments

Sharp End

An atlas of vanishing landscapes.

Letters

A reader cherishes two minutes of eternity.

On Belay

In 2015 Jeff Snyder journeys into the Grand Canyon with local climber Zach Harrison and photographer Blake McCord to pursue the elusive first free ascent of Zoroaster Temple's Southeast Face. As they descend through layers of geology and history, they realize that the greatest adventure might not be the climb, but the approach. Meanwhile, in Yosemite, Shawnté Salabert recalls an unusual heroine.

Tool Users

Nick Aiello-Popeo uncovers decades of climbing lore—and surprising debates—circling a little loop of nylon.

Climbing Life

Alexa Flower discovers her yield point. Tami Knight introduces the #nextgen#GMO-oh climbers. Annie Osburn scrapes the abyss. Alex McKiernan finds his way back to the sharp end. And after years of climbing at Indian Creek, McKenzie Long returns to listen to some of the many voices of the Bears Ears National Monument debate.

Wired

Since the founding of the Club Alpin Français in 1874, alpinists scampered about the sandstone boulders in the forest of Fontainebleau as practice for routes in the high mountains. Nearly a century and half later, David Roberts traverses the forest to discover some of the deeper curiosities that poets and climbers, artists and wanderers alike sought in its depths.

Full Value

As unexpected snow piled deep drifts around a mountain hut, David Stevenson encounters a startling omen: a raven at the door.

Off Belay

In memory of Hayden Kennedy and Inge Perkins.